Chad Brownlee plots a new direction
Country singer Brownlee couldn’t be more excited about next chapter in his career
CHAD BROWNLEE
When: 8:30 p.m., June 21 Where: Brandt Centre
With a long string of hits and a strong presence on country radio, Chad Brownlee has been a major player on the Canadian country music scene for most of the past decade.
Yet in recent months, that profile hasn’t been as pronounced. His most recent album, Hearts On Fire, was released on April 29, 2016, but to go more than two years without any new music left his fans asking a simple question: Where has Chad Brownlee been?
The simple answer is that Brownlee has changed directions with his career path.
“Where do I begin? At the end of the day, I had to make the best decision for my career moving forward,” Brownlee said in a recent telephone interview in advance of his show Thursday at the Brandt Centre as part of the Farm Progress Show. “It’s always tough to navigate when you’ve established such great friendships and relationships. Fortunately I’ve been able to maintain those throughout. I’ve got a lot of respect for the people I’ve worked with in the past and they understand the direction I’m going. I had such a huge opportunity moving forward with the new team that we’re days away from announcing.”
It’s not like Brownlee has been invisible — he’s still been performing concerts across Canada. He has made a couple of recent trips to Saskatchewan, performing at the Humboldt Broncos benefit concert in Saskatoon on April 27 and the Memorial Cup concert at Mosaic Stadium on May 17.
While Brownlee couldn’t get into the details of the changes, he did provide some information about what he has been dealing with and why he felt it was important to make the changes.
“To talk in hockey terms, I was essentially a free agent. I’ve been doing this for almost a decade now and with all the amazing young talent coming up right now, stagnation is a killer. You need to be constantly reinventing yourself while still maintaining who you are and I feel this new chapter that I’m about to embark upon is doing exactly that and I couldn’t be more excited than I am right now,” said Brownlee.
Brownlee broke onto the scene in 2010 with a self-titled debut album and followed up with Love More or Leave Me in 2012, The Fighters in 2014 and Hearts On Fire in 2016. The albums contained a plethora of hits like Hood of My Car, Love Me or Leave Me, Listen, I Hate You for It and Somethin’ We Shouldn’t Do that lifted him to the upper echelon of the Canadian country music scene.
With artists like Paul Brandt, Dean Brody, Dallas Smith, Jess Moskaluke, Brett Kissel, Tim Hicks, Gord Bamford and High Valley, the Canadian country music scene has never been stronger. The success of these artists have made it a very competitive market and Brownlee feels that is a good thing.
“I call it a healthy competition. Everybody is releasing such great music that it helps elevate the bar,” said Brownlee. “Now, when you’re listening to the radio, it’s hard to tell, most times, between an American act and a Canadian act. The level of talent, from the artistry to the songwriting to the production, is world class, and that only helps everybody at the end of the day.
“My fans are also Dallas Smith fans or Jess Moskaluke fans or High Valley fans. They ’re very loyal to the country genre, thankfully. It really does feel like one big family but we do keep each other honest and push one another.”
Brownlee, who will turn 34 on July 12, has become one of the grizzled veterans when people are talking about Canadian country music.
He admitted that it feels a little unusual to realize that he’s been in the business for almost 10 years.
“There’s always a part of you that thinks you’re the new guy and the underdog, but I’m definitely not that anymore,” said Brownlee. “It feels good to still be able to keep doing this. To even say that I’ve been doing this for almost a decade, I’m extremely blessed.”
Staying relevant for 10 years isn’t something that comes easily for any artist. Music fans can be a fickle bunch and for that reason, artists must continue to grow and evolve or deal with the possibility of the fans moving on to other artists.
Brownlee understands that process and believes he has grown significantly since he first broke onto the scene.
“I think I’ve evolved in probably all aspects of my career, as a songwriter, as an entertainer, and even as a human being,” said Brownlee. “That’s the progression that you want, to constantly be growing. When I was playing hockey, it was the same thing. If you think you’re as good as you can be, then your career is done. You have to be constantly moving forward and making new music otherwise everything will just pass you by and your career could be done.”
Tickets for the concert are $30 (plus applicable fees) and are available at the Brandt Centre box office, by telephone at 306-781-9300 or online at ticketmaster.ca. Note that a concert ticket is not included in the daily admission to the Farm Progress Show. Also, the FPS gates close at 5 p.m. so fans who are just attending the concert are not required to purchase a gate admission.
If you think you’re as good as you can be, then your career is done. You have to be constantly moving forward and making new music otherwise everything will just pass you by and your career could be done.